In vain the prisoners, in their desire to take advantage of the
opportunity, endeavored to make themselves known to those below. In
vain the president of the Weldon Institute roared forth at the top of
his voice, "I am Uncle Prudent of Philadelphia!" And the secretary
followed suit with, "I am Phil Evans, his colleague!" Their shouts
were lost in the thousand cheers with which the passengers greeted
the aeronef.

Three or four of the crew of the "Albatross" had appeared on the
deck, and one of them, like sailors when passing a ship less speedy
than their own, held out a rope, an ironical way of offering to tow
them.

And then the "Albatross" resumed her original speed, and in half an
hour the express was out of sight. About one o'clock there appeared a
vast disk, which reflected the solar rays as if it were an immense
mirror.

"That ought to be the Mormon capital, Salt Lake City," said Uncle
Prudent. And so it was, and the disk was the roof of the Tabernacle,
where ten thousand saints can worship at their ease. This vast dome,
like a convex mirror, threw off the rays of the sun in all directions.

It vanished like a shadow, and the "Albatross" sped on her way to the
southwest with a speed that was not felt, because it surpassed that
of the chasing wind. Soon she was in Nevada over the silver regions,
which the Sierra separates from the golden lands of California.

It was six o'clock precisely when the Sierra Nevada was crossed by
the same pass as that taken by the railway. Only a hundred and eighty
miles then separated them from San Francisco, the Californian capital.

At the speed the "Albatross" was going she would be over the dome by
eight o'clock.

At this moment Robur appeared on deck. The colleagues walked up to
him.

"Engineer Robur," said Uncle Prudent, "we are now on the very
confines of America! We think the time has come for this joke to end."

"I never joke," said Robur.

He raised his hand. The "Albatross" swiftly dropped towards the
ground, and at the same time such speed was given her as to drive the
prisoners into their cabin. As soon as the door was shut, Uncle
Prudent exclaimed,

"I could strangle him!"

"We must try to escape." said Phil Evans.

"Yes; cost what it may!"

A long murmur greeted their ears. It was the beating of the surf on
the seashore. It was the Pacific Ocean!

Chapter XI

THE WIDE PACIFIC

Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans had quite made up their minds to escape.
If they had not had to deal with the eight particularly vigorous men
who composed the crew of the aeronef they might have tried to succeed
by main force. But as they were only two--for Frycollin could only
be considered as a quantity of no importance--force was not to be
thought of. Hence recourse must be had to strategy as soon as the
"Albatross" again took the ground. Such was what Phil Evans
endeavored to impress on his irascible colleague, though he was in
constant fear of Prudent aggravating matters by some premature
outbreak.

In any case the present was not the time to attempt anything of the
sort. The aeronef was sweeping along over the North Pacific. On the
following morning, that of June 16th, the coast was out of sight. And
as the coast curves off from Vancouver Island up to the Aleutians--
belonging to that portion of America ceded by Russia to the United
States in 1867--it was highly probable that the "Albatross" would
cross it at the end of the curve, if her course remained unchanged.

How long the night appeared to be to the two friends! How eager they
were to get out of their cabins! When they came on deck in the
morning the dawn had for some hours been silvering the eastern
horizon. They were nearing the June solstice, the longest day of the
year in the northern hemisphere, when there is hardly any night along
the sixtieth parallel.

Either from custom or intention Robur was in no hurry to leave his
deck-house, When he came out this morning be contented himself with
bowing to his two guests as he passed them in the stern of the
aeronef.